Seth Seth watched as she tears stained her cheeks. She went down to her knees and continued crying "Why, why, why," she kept saying as she sobbed. Seth took the note back and walked over to her. He didn't know what to say but he knelt down next to her. "Are you Rylee?" he asked. She sniffed and looked up at him. "Y-Yes," She replied. "My name is Seth Malcovitch. I...I was the one that Joseph came to save I guess. I didn't know him for more than a few minutes, but he did a lot for me in those few minutes. He gave me this letter to give to you when I met you." Seth held his breath as she slowly reached up and took the note. She unfolded it and began to read. Halfway through the note she began to sob again and doubled over tears streaming down her face. Seth had no idea what to do; he had no experience with this. "I'm sorry," was all he could manage. He looked up at Samson to see if he should continue. But Samson gave him no indication of what he should do so he decided he should go ahead and say it. He took a deep breath. "Rylee... he also asked me to tell you that- that whatever happens he will watch over you; that you should test me in the old ways... whatever that meant. Anyway he said if you wish to understand why then you would have to do this. I don't know what he meant but he said you would." She suddenly stopped crying and looked up at him with red rimmed eyes; Seth heard someone gasp behind him and turned to see Samson and Strat staring at him in shock. "What?" he asked as they continued to stare at him. Samson was the first to speak "Are... Are you sure that's what he said?" he asked Seth knew that what he had just said had been very important, "yeah that's what he said sir. Is there some problem with what he said, what is this test?" Samson looked at Strat then to Rylee. "I must think on this more. Strat please get Mr. ... uh you never told me your last name Seth." "It's Malcovitch sir," Seth answered and again Samson and Strat seemed shocked. "What! Malcovitch? How is that possible?" Strat exclaimed. Seth as usual was hopelessly confused. "What do you mean?" he asked "what does my last name have to do with anything?" Samson squinted at Seth like trying to see him from a different view. "You wouldn't be related to a Katie Malcovitch, would you?" Seth just stared at him. Was it possible that these people knew his mother. "Y-yeah Katie Malcovitch is my mother," Seth answered unsure of what it all meant. Samson leaned forward in his padded seat. "Does your mother know what's going on, or where you are?" he asked with a worried look on his face. "No she has no idea where I am. As a matter of fact, she's probably going out of her mind with worry right now. Wait, why do you ask? It's not like she would believe me anyway." A big smile split Samson's weathered face as he said, "Wouldn't believe you, son she is one of us." Seth just looked at him waiting for him to say it was all just a joke; but he said nothing and all Seth could do is think. "Wait a minute that's impossible. My mother and I have lived in the same place for my entire life and I didn't see any sign of this happening, so how could my mom be one of you?" This time it was Strat who answered, "Seth your mother was an agent of light believe it or not; one of the best in fact. She was such a great fighter she earned the honor of being Chief Commander, an office higher than all our generals. She served us for many years before she finally just decided to retire and live a normal life. At the time none of us knew why... well I guess we know now." "But if that's so why go to live in the normal world if it's safer here?" "That's a good question," Samson said "But I suspect she wanted you to grow up with a normal life away from the harsh life we live." Seth shook his head trying to comprehend what was going on around him. It was all too much to take in. He was blessed by God with supernatural powers, He watched a guy named Joseph die who was apparently very important, He was supposed to pass some kind of test. Oh! And not to mention he's in an alternate world supposedly filled with weird creatures and demons, and now he finds out his mother has known these people since before he was born. It was all just crazy, there was no way this was actually happening. In spite of everything going on something snapped inside Seth and he began to laugh, softly at first but then louder and louder until he was in tears laughing so hard his stomach hurt. Samson and Strat looked at Seth with concern on their faces "Are you well?" Samson asked cautiously. This made Seth laugh harder. When he finally got control of himself he looked up at them through blurry eyes. "Oh yeah I'm fine," he answered "I was just chased halfway across town by a demon, brought to some alternate dimension and told I possess powers given to by God. Oh and yeah I almost forgot to mention; My mom knew about it the entire time!!" "Oh yes I'm doing great as a matter of fact let's add in a tale of unicorns and Pegasus shall we, or go ahead and tell me we're in Narnia huh?" The whole room was quiet except for Rylee's soft whimpering. "Master Strat, I think Seth here needs to rest. I fear we have given too much to take in. Please get him settle and resting and then report back to me please." Strat never took his eyes off Seth. Seth realized his fists were clenched in anger and his breathing had quickened. Seth forced himself to calm down and take deep breath, this was not the way to go about this. If what was happening was indeed real and not some joke, no this had to be some kind of twisted joke. If it wasn't a joke Seth didn't know what he'd do. There was one way to find out if this was a joke. His mother would never agree to play such a horrible joke on Seth so if these guys claimed to have known her he would call their bluff. "Wait!" Seth said as Strat was attempting to lead him away. "If you know my mother then make her come here and tell me herself that this is real otherwise I'll never believe you." Seth grinned at his momentary look of confusion. "Unless that's a problem and your lying to me about this whole thing." "YOU DARE!!" interrupted the crying girl Rylee. "I've just lost the most important person in my life and you dare to say his sacrifice was fake. You ignorant little ..." "Peace Rylee!" Samson said interrupting her. Seth just stared at her in shock. "It's okay Rylee, he's just distraught and he doesn't understand what's going on." Samson directed his gaze toward Seth with a look somewhere between understanding and irritation. "Fine I'll make you a deal." "We'll bring your mother here but in the meantime you must take everything we tell you with seriousness okay?" Seth thought about this, there was no problem with playing along with their game for right now. "Okay I have no problem with that," he replied. Samson merely nodded. "Then it's settled then. Strat after he's settled in and rested get him ready for the tournament this afternoon. I want to see exactly what he is capable of." Strat nodded "That I will do Master Samson I'll shall do this but then I must prepare myself." "Of course Master Strat." With that Strat turned around and looked at Seth with a disappointed scowl. "Come with me," he said shortly and then began walking toward the main doors. Seth didn't waste any time following him. Neither of them spoke as they walked down the hallway past guards and other people rushing to and from different places. Strat turned right down a hall that was bigger than the rest. It had a soaring slanting roof and columns of pure marble as well as a blue rock floor complimented by a red strip of carpet down the center of the hall. The banners Seth had seen earlier were everywhere. They were on the walls and on the pillars and doors. The walls were made of a pure white stone harder than marble. They arrived at different room then the one he had awoken in. "Go in and rest up," Strat said making no attempt to hide the contempt in his voice. "We'll wake you when it's time for the War games. I'm looking forward to skewering you." "Yeah well I'm not going to make it easy for you. I won't be beaten by a bunch of liars." Strat just snorted "We'll see who's right and who's wrong won't we? And when we prove it to you, you owe Rylee an apology." "Yeah we'll see," was all Seth could say in response. Seth went into the room and threw himself down on the bed. "What a crazy day," Seth said aloud to no one in particular. As Seth laid there he kept thinking about the events of the day. And try as he might he couldn't shake the feeling that what they had told him was the truth. And that fact alone was enough to worry Seth.